


The Fallen Angel & Overprotective Exorcist

by cbeverly, Merelatio



Category: Dance with Devils (Anime)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 23:58:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5605909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cbeverly/pseuds/cbeverly, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merelatio/pseuds/Merelatio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one would ever love Shiki.<br/>If he was loved, he would have never been banished and yet, here he was, all alone and broken and bleeding.</p><p>No one would ever love Lindo.<br/>Even though he was loved, it would never be by the person who meant most to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year! We did an rp centered on these three so this will be multi-chaptered and set sometime after episode 6.
> 
> Enjoy~

* * *

 

It was after dark, and Lindo was lying in wait.

He was crouched behind a tree, staring into the windows of the third library of the school which were dimly lit.

Lindo knew that the student council... those devils... sometimes worked late.

And this time, he'd be ready for them.

He had everything all set up. His spells, his circle, everything.

Lindo would get rid of them for _good_.

So when a dark figure started approaching him, coming from the school, Lindo sprung into action, jumping away from his hiding spot.

He pulled out his chain and immediately started with his incantation, aiming it right at whichever devil dared show his face.

 

Ugh, Shiki had just been tormented again...

Nobody ever treated him nicely. Not like Ritsuka had.

Oh, Ritsuka. Such a kind girl. She really was special, wasn’t she?

For all Shiki cared, Rem could have the grimoire. Shiki just wanted the girl.

But right now, with feathers flying away from his black wings, he winced in pain.

“Ah, my poor feathers... Look at you all torn and bleeding...”

Shiki shivered in cold delight. He may have gotten himself bullied around and hurt for the umpteenth time but he didn’t care.

Just to feel something – _anything_ – in this cold, dead heart of his, the pain was worth it.

 

Lindo paused his incantations when he realized the object of his aim wasn't fighting back.

It didn't even seem like Lindo had been noticed... the spells didn't seem to be affecting the figure at all.

Maybe Lindo had been to hasty, and this was a normal human he accidentally started exorcizing! He should really be more careful.

He placed his rosary back into his pocket and maneuvered around in order to get a better look. There weren't too many lights around at this hour.

It was then when he heard a voice talking to themselves.

It was a male voice. A male voice that he recognized, but he couldn't place it.

It _had_ to be one of those devils!

"Stop!" Lindo called out, jumping right in front of the male in plain sight, and holding out his rosary once more.

"I won't let you escape."

 

Shiki just paused, looking at this human.

What was his name again? He couldn't remember. It wasn't important for him to know, anyway.

Exhausted and bored, he continued on his way, feathers drifting away from his wings in the process.

He was bleeding and it while this kind of pain felt _good,_ Shiki was losing too much blood.

His side was all battered and bruised and his wings were an utter mess...

"What do you want, human? Just leave me alone..." he coughed out, moving past the irritating person.

Why couldn't it have been Ritsuka?

Why couldn't _she_ have shown up to comfort him and be kind to him?

No one would ever love Shiki.

Not even God loved him.

If he was loved, he would have never been banished and yet, here he was, all alone and broken and bleeding.

 

Lindo took a few hesitant steps closer, anticipating the moment that he'd be attacked.

But that attack never happened.

Lindo still clutched his rosary, the words on the tip of his tongue in case something happened.

But... nothing happened.

Lindo paused. Was he really a devil?

But then he spoke, and started to walk past Lindo, and then Lindo recognized him.

Natsumezaka Shiki.

Lindo made a point to know and look into each member of that student council.

So he knew that rather than a devil like the others, he was a fallen angel.

But that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous.

That also explained why his incantations weren't working.

But just because Natsumezaka wasn't a pure devil like the rest of them didn't mean he could let him off so easily.

He'd just have to find a new way to defeat him...

Oh, but wait.

Lindo got a good look at him.

He didn't look to be in a good physical shape, already.

He was bleeding, his wings were droopy and looked battered...

It looked like someone else got him first.

Somehow, Lindo didn't feel like attacking him anymore.

He wasn't going to let him _go_ so easily... but he didn't have to add to the injuries either.

Besides, whoever attacked the fallen angel might be even _more_ dangerous.

Lindo could think rationally at times. It wasn't _all_ act first without thinking!

That was something Ritsuka taught him.

"So, what happened to you then?" Lindo asked, keeping his voice neutral and business-like.

 

"Why do you care?" Shiki uttered, throwing the human another irritated glance, pausing.

Nobody cared about him.

Only Ritsuka seemed to have cared and she abandoned him just like God did.

Was anything worth it anymore?

Why couldn't he just finally die in _peace?_

Was it too much to ask after everyone bullied him and hurt him and broke him and _abandoned_ him?

He supposed it was.

What he hadn't expected was for someone unexpected to just shown up out of seemingly nowhere.

"Shiki!"

Orange eyes widened as he looked at the person rushing over to him.

And before he knew it, said person was looking at him with wide, worried brown eyes.

"What happened to you?"

Shiki shivered, loving the attention, wishing to always be looked at in such a way, but the moment was over way too quickly when Ritsuka's eyes snapped to the human.

"Nii-san! Don't hurt him!"

 

"I don't," Lindo immediately stated.

Why would he be concerned about this fallen angel he didn't know, other than the fact that he was close with those devils, and had gotten involved in Ritsuka?

Unspeakable.

Even if he wasn't a devil himself, he was still an enemy to Lindo.

"But as a top exorcist in the community, it benefits me to know of any current threats, no matter to whom."

Natsumezaka didn't seem to be paying much attention, however. He seemed out of it... and not up for a fight, or giving out much information.

Well, it's not like Lindo _expected_ him to be forthright with everything Lindo wanted to know.

As he was pondering on how to extract the information, there was another presence that made themselves known by the quick footsteps that hurried to the scene.

Lindo didn't need to look to know who it was.

His precious Ritsuka.

He turned around, feeling his overprotective side come in.

"Ritsuka! You shouldn't be out this late, and here of all places, it's dangerous!"

But she hadn't been going to him, she had been going to the fallen angel.

And her eyes as she looked at him made Lindo's heart sink.

To be looked at like that by his most precious person...

"I didn't do anything to him...!" Lindo said harshly.

_Yet..._

"I just came across him like that. I was trying to get him to tell me what happened."

For ulterior motives, but still.

 

But Ritsuka wasn't really listening to Lindo.

She was currently too preoccupied with Shiki's broken form, her hands trailing across black feathers, blood dripping from her fingers.

"We have to help him!" Ritsuka exclaimed, hesitating for a moment before she placed an arm around Shiki's shoulders.

Shiki's eyes widened further. What was Ritsuka doing?

The way she had put her arm around him and the way she looked at him...

Shiki shivered, slightly leaning into her, a few feathers drifting away in the process.

"Who did this to you, Shiki?"

Ritsuka's voice was worried and concerned. Her tone was so despaired, it rendered Shiki to a mess of shameless shivers. 

Wrapping his dark wings around her, Shiki leaned forward, his lips grazing Ritsuka's ear.

"It doesn't matter _who,_ " he whispered, arms wrapping around the girl's lithe form.

"What matters is _you_."

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

 

"Huh?" Ritsuka squeaked as Shiki suddenly started to embrace her tightly. She could feel the wings wrap around her body.

She knew Shiki was a good person, and she wasn't scared, but... she had been startled. She never knew what to reply when Shiki said those things to her.

But she was extremely worried about Shiki, so she made no move to leave the embrace. And she took the closeness as opportunity to inspect some of his injuries some more.

"It does matter!" she stated. "We're friends now, right? Of course I care and would want to know..."

What could have happened... she wondered. Who could have done this to her?

If it wasn't her brother, then...

Oh. Speaking of Lindo.

"Natsumezaka, unhand her!" Lindo said angrily, rushing over to the two of them.

He put his hand on Natsumezaka's shoulder and tried to pry him away from his beloved Ritsuka.

How dare he touch her like that!

 

"No~"

Why would Shiki unhand _his_ Ritsuka?

Such a precious angel should be treasured and treated just as an angel of Heaven.

So why would Shiki ever unhand his angel?

It wouldn't happen.

"I was bullied again... they're all so mean to me... just because I'm a fallen angel..." Shiki whimpered, his tone as hurt as the rest of him as he leaned further into Ritsuka.

In one fell swoop, his wings still around the girl, Shiki literally swept her off her feet as she landed securely in his arms.

And he was off, flying into the sky on injured wings.

He could deal with the pain later. Right now, with Ritsuka in his arms, Shiki made them disperse into a hazy fog, disappearing from view.

He wasn't about to let anyone else take his Ritsuka away from him again, after all.

 

Ignoring Lindo for now, Ritsuka's full attention was on Shiki, who needed help.

"Who would do that?" Ritsuka asked, voice quiet and full of compassion.

She knew of the problems Shiki had to face on a recurring basis, but it couldn't be any easier just because it happened often. There was no way someone could get used to that, right?

"I don't know what happened," Ritsuka said, "but whatever this was is worse than bullying. Look at you, Shiki," she ran a hand over his shoulders, glancing at his wings.

It looked like he had been in a horrible fight and lost.

He looked horrible. Ritsuka felt horrible _for_ him.

"Let me..." she started, meaning to offer to bring him somewhere to get cleaned up and tended to.

But before she could to that, Ritsuka was swept off her feet suddenly, and then Shiki was carrying her in his arms.

Ritsuka's eyes widened as Shiki jumped into the sky, taking off.

"S-Shiki-san?!"

She looked down, to see Lindo on the ground looking horrified.

 

"PUT HER DOWN NOW OR I'LL END YOU!" Lindo was screaming at them. "Natsumezaka!"

Lindo was running across the school grounds, but of course he was unable to reach them.

And Shiki got higher, and higher, so they couldn't hear or see Lindo anymore.

Ritsuka took in some frightened deep breaths. Shiki was her friend. She trusted him.

But flying through the sky like this was still an unfamiliar situation.

"Um, Shiki, where are we going?" Ritsuka asked, trying not to look down anymore.

 

"Don't worry, Ritsuka," Shiki soothed, wincing as a tremor passed through his wings but not allowing that to affect him. "You won't fall."

Now that the pesky half-human was out of their hair, Shiki _finally_ had Ritsuka all to himself.

And he wouldn't let her go so easily.

Not until he showed her something.

He could tell Ritsuka was frightened and truthfully, she had every right to be.

Even so, Shiki held her gently, comfortingly as they flew through the air.

It wasn't cold out tonight so the breeze that blew by was nice and refreshing.

 

"I know..." Ritsuka replied, still focusing her attention on Shiki so she didn't have to look down. "It's not that..." She knew that Shiki wouldn't knowingly drop her.

She trusted him, despite everyone around her telling her she shouldn't. And also despite some of his words and actions that left her with little idea how to respond.

But even so, she was also slightly worried. How could he continue flying with injured wings?

And he hadn't told her who had hurt him that badly...

But Shiki continued to fly them through the air, and it seemed he was able to fly perfectly despite his injuries.

She was relieved. Both for Shiki, and herself.

So she squeezed her eyes tightly and _tried_ to enjoy the rest of the flight, despite how frightening the large distance to the ground was.

 

As they continued flying, Shiki was glad he had this opportunity to show Ritsuka something she would never forget even though he was injured.

He didn't want to let this chance slip by.

They had remained silent for most of the journey which hadn't truly taken that long.

In fact they were already here.

If only the clouds would lift...

"Ritsuka, look."

The clouds parting to reveal a full moon, Shiki gazed at it, the light surrounding them in white-blue as the sea below them glittered.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

 

"I know..." Ritsuka replied, still focusing her attention on Shiki so she didn't have to look down. "It's not that..." She knew that Shiki wouldn't knowingly drop her.

She trusted him, despite everyone around her telling her she shouldn't. And also despite some of his words and actions that left her with little idea how to respond.

But even so, she was also slightly worried. How could he continue flying with injured wings?

And he hadn't told her who had hurt him that badly...

But Shiki continued to fly them through the air, and it seemed he was able to fly perfectly despite his injuries.

She was relieved. Both for Shiki, and herself.

So she squeezed her eyes tightly and _tried_ to enjoy the rest of the flight, despite how frightening the large distance to the ground was.

With her eyes closed, she could pretend that she wasn't that high up, and she could enjoy the feeling of the air against her skin.

But suddenly, that seemed to have come to a stop. When Shiki told her to look, Ritsuka opened her eyes and gazed out into the sky.

She had to blink a few times to adjust her vision, but when she could fully see that, she forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Wow..." she whispered.

The moon was bright in the sky, clouds surrounding it making it seem slightly eerie.

But the moon itself was beautiful, and the entire scene was reflected on the water below.

"It's beautiful," she repeated still in awe.

It looked like a photograph or a painting, not like something real, or something she herself could see.

If only she had a camera of some kind...

This was so much more beautiful than the similar sight Mage showed her that time.

"Shiki, how'd you know of this place?"

 

"I come see this view when I feel lost and alone."

Which was all the time but that wasn't something he would just tell anyone.

While Shiki unlike the devils wasn't one to lie, he had his own secrets that were too dark for anyone to ever find out.

His secrets were his own and his alone.

But with Ritsuka, this _human_ girl, he felt as if he could gradually open himself up to her.

She was kind and compassionate and most of all, naïve.

There was a reason why all the devils continued targeting her and it wasn't just because she was the grimoire.

Ritsuka was special and Shiki knew firsthand that such a person should be treated with utmost, almost reverent care.

And he couldn't deny how similar the two of them were.

If she continued on this path, Shiki knew she would eventually become an angel and then she would be lost from him forever.

Shiki couldn't - _wouldn't_ \- allow that to happen.

God had abandoned him and in turn, he had become lost in the agony of pain and suffering, but he couldn't lose the last beautiful thing he had in his life...

He couldn't lose his Ritsuka.

 

Ritsuka's eyes widened, and then they closed for a moment before opening them again and staring at Shiki fully.

She could hear the melancholy in his tone, and her heart couldn't help but want to reach out to him. It made her extremely sad.

She didn't want the fallen angel to be sad, or in pain... or feel lost and alone.

And even though the view was beautiful, suddenly her heart didn't feel that happy or excited anymore.

How could it when she was worrying so deeply? It was as if she could feel Shiki's pain herself.

Was it because of who he was, perhaps? His power? Was it transmitting his feelings to her, too?

Well, whatever the case, she didn't want Shiki to feel upset any longer.

"You're not alone," Ritsuka said, reaching up to gently touch Shiki's cheek.

The people who were physically hurting and injuring Shiki were another story, but she couldn't do anything about that at the moment...

"You have me. And Rem-san, Urie-san, and Mage-san, right?

 

But that wasn't the case.

Shiki was all alone and he would continue to be alone.

"They're the ones who always bully me," he whispered, words lost to the wind.

"The ones who wouldn't care about me if something were to happen to me."

But there was _someone_ in that list of people that could be there for him if only the spoke the words...

"I wouldn't be alone if I had you."

Looking at Ritsuka, his eyes meeting hers. he wondered if she understood.

A moment later, they materialized somewhere remote that Shiki called his home away from home.

He was exhausted and bleeding and his wings were torn and shred.

Shiki could no longer deny his injuries.

Barely setting Ritsuka down, he collapsed to the ground.

 

"Eh?" Ritsuka vocalized, hearing Shiki's whispered words. Certainly that couldn't be true, could it?

Yes, she had seen them... particularly Urie and Mage... tease Shiki all the time, but she thought that had just been their relationship and it was all in good fun.

And she and Rem weren't as close as she would have liked to be at one point, but that was fine. She got over it and him. But it wasn't as if Rem was such a bad person...

Or had she been wrong about _everything?_

"You do have me," she told him. "So you're not alone."

And he would continue to not be alone, because Ritsuka didn't ever think about leaving Shiki's side.

Somehow, she felt that she couldn't leave him alone. Maybe it was against her better judgement... but...

It was what her heart was telling her.

Shiki needed her.

So she wasn't going to leave him.

Soon enough, Shiki had brought her, so suddenly she didn't even realize, somewhere she didn't recognize.

She was placed on the ground, in such a way that she stumbled forward, although she was able to regain her balance.

Her limbs shook slightly from the shock of being so high up.

But the image of the moon on the water was perfectly ingrained in her memory...

Suddenly, there was a _thump._

Ritsuka spun around, and gasped loudly at the scene of Shiki crumpled on the ground.

She immediately dashed over to him, falling on her knees.

"S-Shiki-san?!" she cried out, lifting his face and touching his forehead.

She almost checked his pulse, but wouldn't that be different since he wasn't human?

Oh no, what should she do? She had no medical knowledge of humans, let alone devils and fallen angels...

She didn't have anything on her like a phone, so she couldn't call anyone either....

And then her face set into a determined expression.

She shouldn't panic. She needed to help Shiki!

Ritsuka grabbed Shiki under the arms, and started dragging him to the nearby cabin.

It was difficult, and her arms were burning, but she was able to get there.

And... _oh._ The door was actually unlocked.

So Ritsuka continued to drag Shiki into the cabin, and ended up struggling hard to lift him onto a sofa.

When she did that, she ran around, searching for a bathroom. When she found it, she came back with a small, wet towel.

And then she slowly started to clean the blood from Shiki's wings, and skin.

 

 


End file.
